DNA Money Edit: Why Suzuki frets over Modi’s EV plan
In the three months to September, the auto giant sold 4.57 lakh cars, over 19% rise from the previous quarter.
Swift policy shifts rattle market players at all times. India’s sudden shift of gears to move completely towards electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030 has now thrown a cat among some pigeons (read auto manufacturers). The world’s fifth-largest auto market’s proposed transformation to all-electric vehicles in next 13 years is a part of the PM Narendra Modi-led government’s grand vision for a renewable-energy revolution in India to cut the oil bill and emissions substantially.
The proposed policy move seems to have unnerved Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, the country’s largest automaker, among others. Japanese giant Suzuki dominates the Indian market through its majority stake in Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. Neither Suzuki nor Maruti currently produces battery-operated electric cars. Chief executive Toshihiro Suzuki recently said that their volumes are so large that he is worried that they could be “caught flat-footed” if there was a sudden shift towards EVs in India, a huge market for Maruti Suzuki. In the three months to September, the auto giant sold 4.57 lakh cars, over 19% rise from the previous quarter.
As of now, India is a small market for EVs, but the government is promoting them through incentives and it needs to sort out the issue of inadequacy of charging stations, which has slowed EVs’ proliferation.
Source: dnaindia
